


Day 2: Speak

by emberbent



Series: Zutara Week 2019 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 18:43:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21061397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emberbent/pseuds/emberbent
Summary: Telephones come to the Fire Nation Capital. Zuko knows who he wants to call.





	Day 2: Speak

**Author's Note:**

> I'm exhausted, but I was really excited about this idea, so I forced it out - please disregard any editing mistakes, because lmao I did not edit this.

Technological progression was one of the many things the Fire Nation was known for, and it was something that constantly amazed and confused Zuko the older he got and the faster technology progressed. Past a certain point, more and more new things emerged - or newer, better versions of those things - and his still-sharp but aging mind couldn’t keep up with it all. When telephones entered the global commercial market, Zuko wasn’t keen on having a line installed in his Capital City palace bedroom, but Izumi had insisted. If for no other reason, she’d persisted, than for his own safety. Zuko realized his daughter was right, but what had made him finally agree was something Izumi had let slip in casual conversation: Katara had a telephone, too.

“Do you remember how this works, Dad?” the Fire Lord patiently coached her father. “You have to hold this part up to your mouth, and you speak into it. No… no, don’t put it _on_ your mouth.”

“Why do they make these blasted things so hard to use?” Zuko complained. “Back in my day, we sent messenger hawks, and they got the job done just fine.”

Izumi gave a little exasperated sigh, but smiled at her elderly father. “Yes, and remember how they’d get shot out of the sky? Here. Hold this piece, and I’ll dial the number for you.”

Zuko eyed his daughter, whose likeness to him ended sharply at their physical similarity. Where she’d gotten her patience, he didn’t know. He held the mouthpiece near his lips and watched as Izumi stuck her finger in one of the little metal divots, spun the disc, and repeated the motion a couple more times. He jumped a little when the earpiece emitted a dial tone.

“Make sure you talk loud enough that she can hear you,” Izumi reminded him. “I’ll leave you alone so you can have your privacy. When you’re done, just put the mouthpiece there in the little holder.”

She slipped out of the room, leaving Zuko with the dial tone. It went on for a long time, and he thought that maybe the thing was broken - which wouldn’t have surprised him. But then the monotonous sound stopped, and an old, familiar voice sounded in his ear: “Yes? Hello?”

“Katara,” said Zuko to the air, quite loudly. “Hi. It’s Zuko.”

Sitting with a sealskin draped over her lap in her home in the Southern Water Tribe, Katara’s wrinkled face came alive with a wide grin. “Hi, you. I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

Zuko could feel his pallid skin flush. He could barely hear her, but the sound of the smile in her voice wasn’t lost on him. A little shy, he stayed quiet for a moment; Katara spoke up to fill the silence just as he started to speak.

“How are things in Capit--?”

“Still cold down there--?”

“You go first,” Katara offered. 

Zuko insisted, “No, you. Please. It’s nice to hear your voice.”

Katara’s gnarled fingers toyed with the phone cord. She felt like she was a teenager again, and that as long as she was on the phone with him, she could go back to the time she remembered so fondly. Katara had made her choice, and her life with Aang had been full of love, hardship, and everything in between. She couldn’t say she would have done it differently if given the opportunity, but she did often think about what her life would have been like if she had.

“Katara? Hello?”

“I’m still here,” she assured him. Wistfully, she said, “Everyone’s all grown up and moving on, here. My grandchildren came to visit me a few months ago - they’re starting to look and sound like adults. Even Tenzin’s showing his age.”

Zuko gave a quiet chuckle. “Izumi makes as much time for me as she can,” he replied. “But it’s still lonely, now that my grandkids are grown.” 

“I miss you, Zuko,” Katara said with resolution, as if she’d been debating whether to admit it. Aang had been gone a long time, but a part of her still felt like seeking companionship from anyone else - especially Zuko - was somehow disrespecting his memory.

“I could come visit you,” Zuko offered. “There’s no sense in us old folks wasting away alone, when we could be wasting away together.”

“I’d like that,” Katara replied softly. “But… better I come see you, I think. Your old bones probably can’t take this frigid weather.”

Zuko grinned. “Okay. You say when, and I’ll have the penthouse ready for you.”

Katara was silent for a moment. Then she said, “How’s next week?”

“I’ll see if I can clear my schedule,” Zuko joked. “See you then, Katara.”

“Be seeing you,” she chirped. “Bye-bye.”

“Bye,” Zuko smiled. He curled his fingers around the mouthpiece, pulled it close to his heart for a moment and closed his eyes. Then he put it back in its cradle.


End file.
